Getting Back to You
by BB-Hodgela-slaudia-forever
Summary: They had a romance and a secret. Now everything is blowing up. What will happen when everything come out?
1. Chapter 1

"You bastard!" Claudia yelled running down the hospital corridor, shoving Sonny. "How could you let this happen!?!" She kept yelling. The need for her to collapse was evident, but instead she went with shoving and yelling at Sonny.

"Claudia stop!" Johnny said, coming up from behind her, holding her. She was shaking, he felt it.

"You were supposed to protect her! This wasn't part of the deal, Sonny. Our whole plan is shot to hell!" She yelled at him again, tearing him up inside. Not that she cared.

"You don't think I know that, Claudia!" He spat venomously. "Look I didn't know someone was going to be there. I've been out of the business for seven years now." He told her information she already knew.

"Look we need to focus on her right now so both of you shut the hell up!" Johnny finally got his words in. Just minutes ago he learned that this little was his niece, now he could lose her.

"What are you even doing here?" Sonny asked him. He had always hated Johnny. And he had to take his anger out on someone.

"I'm here for my sister and for my niece." Johnny explained. This secret had been tearing at him and now it was sitting in front of him about to slap him in the face.

"Will you both shut up?! No one knows that I'm her mother, yet." Claudia said walking away looking in the window of the room, watching the nurses work on her daughter. Sonny and Johnny followed close behind her, afraid that the grief would weigh to heavy on her and she would fall. Yet no tears fell from her eyes. "You kept me from her." She said looking at Sonny.

"Don't you dare start with me. If I hadn't talked you out of getting an abortion she wouldn't even be here." Sonny spat, remembering all the memories he ever had with his daughter.

"This would've never happened then would it? We could have forgot what we once had and moved on." Johnny took note of the pain in his sister's eyes as he silently watched their argument. "Not that you didn't do that anyway. Look she knows I'm her mother and I will be there with her."

"Fine, but don't you dare try to take my daughter away from me." Claudia just shook her head, trying to remember what she ever saw in Sonny. Johnny took her in his arms seeing the tears start to come. He let her go when he saw Kate Howard walk up to them. She took Sonny in her arms.

"Sonny I'm so sorry! Is she okay?" Kate threw herself all over him. Claudia seethed watching her do this while her daughter was fighting for her life. Kate turned herself toward Claudia. "What are you doing here?" Claudia opened her mouth but instead Sonny answered.

"Kate this isn't the time for that." He shook his head, trying to get her to leave it alone.

"I just want to know why this tramp is here, bugging you when your daughter is fighting for her life." Claudia clamped her eyes when Kate said 'your' indicating that Cassie wasn't hers too. Johnny took immediate notice of this and grabbed his sister's arm as the doctor approached.

"I need immediate family members ONLY to follow me." He said as Claudia and Sonny went to follow. Claudia looked back to see Kate wit her eyes wide open. This kept a smirk on Claudia's face for two seconds before she remembered her current situation. Her and Sonny were led into a small conference.

"How is our daughter, doctor?" Sonny asked. Both parents looked intensely at the doctor as he reviewed the notes. Claudia used a nearby wall to support herself until Sonny wrapped his arm around her, helping her balance.

"Mr. Corinthos, Ms. Zacchara, your daughter is……."

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I know what you all are thinking: "She's starting another one?!" This isn't going to be very long, but this idea has been in my head for a very long time. There is a major back story to this, which is just a flash forward. So here are a few questions. Did their daughter live? Why did no one know that Claudia was her mother? Will she make it?

REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!

Taylor J


	2. Chapter 2

**Eight years before Chapter 1, April 5****th****, 2008.**

Claudia walked into Jakes, alone and confident. Breaking it off with Ric was the best thing she had ever done. He was too dependant and even worse he still believed in love. That was the most vial thing in the world to her, the love she had for her brother was the only love she could ever have. No matter how mad he got at her they were still brother and sister and there was nothing anyone could ever do about that.

"It's wild thang! Without your little lawyer friend, though." Coleman yelled as she hit the bar, she smiled and laughed a little to herself.

"No man ever lasts long around me Coleman. Can I get a vodka on the rocks please?" Claudia examined the bar, no one else here except Sonny Corinthos.

"Sure thing, vodka on the rocks coming right up." Coleman answered turning away. Claudia studied Sonny, carefully, he looked pretty happy for a man who hadn't been laid since January. Him and Kate had also broken up, again. She turned herself around and sat in the bar stool as Coleman put the drink in front of her. She heard someone come up behind her, but made no movement.

"So no man lasts long around you? I'd like to accept that challenge." He whispered in her ear, she turned around to see him flashing his dimples at her.

"Really? You think you can handle me?" She smirked, turning back around in her bar stool. He turned her right back around though.

"I know I can." He said, crushing her lips with his. She wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. Sonny threw enough money on the bar to cover their drinks, a room, and Coleman to keep his mouth shut.

Both knew they were going to regret this in the morning, but neither cared.

XOXOXOXO

She woke up in his arms. Surprised she was even there she gasped, making him hold onto her a little bit tighter.

"What did you expect? Me not to be here?" He asked. She heard a laugh roll off his lips.

"Well, I mean yeah. I don't know just waking up right here was a surprise, a really, really good surprise" He ran his hand through her hair.

"I like you Claudia. A lot more than I originally planned." He confessed making her smile.

"I like you too Sonny, but no one can know about us. If anyone finds out we're dead by someone or my father." She shuttered at the thought.

"We'll be a secret then. No one's ever going to hurt you, again." He told her, holding her closer.

XOXOXOXOXO **October 2008 **

Claudia took the back elevator up to her and Sonny's penthouse, that no one else knew about. He should be there in five minutes and she was excited. They hadn't seen each other in a week, because Morgan was sick and even when they did they had to pretend like they hated each other. She heard the door open and she turned to see him, they both smiled.

"Hey you." He said wrapping his arms around her. She melted into him and his touch.

"How's Morgan?" She asked, pulling back and looking into his eyes. He shook his head.

"Still sick, but I couldn't stay away from you any longer." He told her, kissing the top of her head gently.

"I hate that we have to do this, stay secret, but it's safer for everyone." She explained.

"Everyone except you." He paused looking for a rebottle, he knew by know that eventually he would get one. When she opened her mouth he gently put his hand over it, saying keep quiet. "I don't get to put my guards on you or protect you from your father's wrath whenever he gets mad at you. It hurts that I can't protect you." She took his hand and led him to the bed, where she lightly shoved him on to it. She laid directly on top of him.

"Don't be hurt by me, please, I couldn't take hurting another person, especially you. I've dealt with him my whole life, he doesn't scare me anymore, promise." He caressed her cheek before kissing her.

XOXOXOXO **November 2008 **

She really hoped he was there, somehow sensing how scared she was. Never in her life had she ever felt like this. When the back elevator opened though he wasn't there. Making her feel worse, pained. But she had to do this here, their special place together. She took it out of the bag and went in to the bathroom. It was the three longest minutes of her life, but it didn't get much better after it was done. She held the pregnancy test with shaky hands, daring herself to look at it; to face reality. She was a pregnant mobster and that wasn't going to work. She left the room quickly, she was going to go to the clinic and take care of this situation.

Her message had seemed frantic, as he drove quickly to the penthouse, hoping that she would still be there. When he opened the door she wasn't though. He looked around before coming across the little stick in the bathroom. He took off running to the one place he knew she would be, the clinic trying to get an abortion.

She laid on the table, waiting for the doctor. She didn't feel anything, she couldn't.If she did she wouldn't be able to through with it and that wouldn't work either. Then she heard commotion outside.

"Claudia!" Sonny yelled bursting through the door, doctors and nurses behind him. She heard a whole bunch of I'm sorrys, but she didn't care.

"It's fine don't worry, you can leave us be." She told them, they all backed up and let Sonny in the room. He sat down on the stool next to her bed. "I'm sorry."

"Did you go through with it?" She shook her head at him. "Then you have nothing to be sorry for." He told her, but this is when her tears started.

"I'm a mob boss, Sonny and so are you. I can't bring a child into my life, not knowing how it ends up. I just can't and if daddy finds out and this baby is a girl she's dead. None of this will happen if I solve this problem." She explained, wiping at he few tears.

"Claudia I have another idea. What if while you're not showing you can walk around and be completely normal. When you start to show you tell everyone you're going to Italy, but instead come and hide at my house. When the baby is born I will get out of the business and raise he or she. You don't ever have to worry about raising this child." He explained. He could see that she was processing everything.

"Fine, I'll do it. Sonny you know I didn't mean for this to happen right? I mean I didn't want to get…..pregnant." Her eyes stared into his. He took her hand.

"I know you didn't, just by the message you left on my cell. It's all gonna be okay Claudia, I promise." He helped her get dressed and then drove her to the penthouse. He laid down with her and watched her fall asleep.

They both knew everything was far from being okay.

* * *

Okay so now you guys know some of the back story. More is coming, I promise. Any opinions on Sonny's plan? Good? Bad? Sonny why are you even thinking like that? Oh by the way Michael was not shot at all in this story. Please review, they make me write easier.

Taylor


	3. Chapter 3

**January 2009**

She wanted to drink, so bad. It's not like she didn't need it. The second she started to show she had to be hidden away in a house she didn't know. Sonny said she should have at least two more months, at four months pregnant she would most likely start to show. She had already started to wear baggy clothing, but mostly she stayed in her room. Morning sickness plagued her and Johnny had been worried, but she reassured him saying, 'I'm fine, don't worry'.

She hadn't seen Sonny in forever and she missed him so bad. He should be helping her through this, but instead he had to stay as far away as possible, for her own safety. It was hard for her having this child inside of her and its father couldn't be with them. She walked to Kelly's, hands in her pocket. She really just wanted to walk, but if anyone asked that was where she was going.

She knew her own guards were following her but she felt that there were more than normal. Then she spotted two guards that didn't look like any of their employees. "You two are dismissed, I'll get home all one my own." She told the guards, they left without questioning her.

She walked over to the unrecognizable guards and stared at them. "You two work for Sonny don't you?" She questioned. From inside her pocket she put her hand on her stomach just in case that's not who these men were.

"Yes. The boss wanted us to keep you safe for what reason we didn't know why. We don't question the boss, though." One of the guards answered her. That was it, she was officially pissed off. These guards put her and her baby in danger.

"Leave me alone. I'll go talk to your boss about this little arrangement." She had to make her voice sound even angrier when she said boss, showing the fake hatred she had for Sonny. They both nodded and walked off.

She hailed a cab and told the driver to high tail it to Sonny's house. After she paid the guy, she slammed the door and made it up his driveway. "Is Sonny home?" She asked Max, clearly annoyed.

"Yeah, what do you wanna see the boss for?" Milo asked for Max who was in the middle of asking. The guards quirkiness annoyed her even more.

"I have some very important business to discuss with him." She started tapping her foot on the floor waiting for the response. The guards opened the door to house she would be living in very soon. She spun around, looking very quickly, before opening the living room door. She slammed it and went to stand in front of his desk, putting her hands on her hips.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, smiling. He hadn't seen her in so long, he had truly missed her. He thought she was risking it too much by coming here now.

"Extra guards Sonny! Do you know how dangerous that is?! If my father got whiff of that he would be suspicious, we can't let that happen." She was getting worked up, he took note of it. He got up and walked her over to the couch, sitting her down and then going over to the bar and getting her a bottle of water. When he turned back around she was standing up. "I didn't want to sit. Now explain what are you trying to gain by getting me and our child killed." He clamped his eyes shut.

"I was not trying to do that. Please come sit," He pleaded pulling her down as he sat, "I was worried that he would try to hurt you or the guards, loyal workers of your father, would turn on you. That couldn't happen especially right now, our plan is going to work, I have a feeling that it is." The anger Claudia had was diminished as he held her.

"You've made sure to have no guards on the one entrance, right?" She asked releasing herself from him. She needed to make sure everything was going to work out.

"Yes, why did the doctor say something that has you worried?" She shook her head at him.

"No just that the baby probably was going to be big and if he or she is I'm going to start showing a lot sooner. I just want to make sure _**your**_ baby is going to be okay." She explained.

"You know the baby's yours too." He informed her. He knew this was becoming more complicated for her than it was for him. He just had to walk around and act like he hated the woman he loved. She had to pretend to not give a damn about anything.

"But if I want to be able to let go, she's yours. And yes I have a feeling it's a girl." They both smiled. "Look I need to get going. Everyone's going to suspect something if I stay in her any longer." She got up and left without even looking at him.

She knew she shouldn't care about him anymore, she just couldn't. Soon he would be out of the business for their child and she would have no reason to care about him or the baby. But she did and that scared the hell out of her.

**March 2009**

She woke up this morning and had popped. Her stomach stuck out and it was extremely noticeable. Sonny had been completely right. Thank goodness it was March and it was freezing outside or else she would look ridiculous with this oversized hoodie on. She walked to John's room, putting down the suitcase and walking in.

"Hey, what's up?" He asked immediately. She hoped that her face held nothing more than happiness. Since she was going to Italy to see her Uncle Rudy, well that was the back story.

"Um I forgot to tell you that I'm flying to Italy in like four hours to see Uncle Rudy for awhile." She flashed a smile to try and convince him. She usually a better liar than this.

"Well I guess that's good. Did you tell dad?" He eyed her suspiciously. He knew that if Anthony knew she wouldn't be able to go. Anthony wanted her close in case he wanted to kill her.

"I was hoping you could after I left?" She stated in the form of a question. She really didn't want to tell Anthony. He read into her better than John did.

"Yeah I will. He won't you leave if he finds out. Just take care of yourself. I love you Claudia." He pulled her in for a hug. She tried to arch her back outward so he wouldn't feel her bump. When she pulled back he swore he could've felt something, but he wasn't going to question her.

"Bye Johnny I love you too." She ran out of the room quickly. She hated to lie to him, but there was no other choice. She walked out of the house the back way, running to her concealed car. She threw her suitcase in the trunk and even took the back road away from Crimson Point. Everything had to be done as secretly as possible.

She took the way through the woods to get to Sonny's house and went through the terrace where he had no guards stationed. He was sitting as his desk when she opened the terrace door. He looked up and smiled at her. He got up and took her suitcase.

"Let me see." He looked so excited like a little kid at Christmas. She undid herself from the oversized hoodie. His smile got bigger when he saw the bump. He pulled her to the couch and had her sit.

"Haven't we gone over the whole 'I don't like to be bossed around thing'?" She teased as he frowned. All he wanted to do was take in this moment.

"Yes, but it doesn't mean I don't want what's best for you. Has she started kicking yet?" He asked. She took note of how he was practically jumping out of his seat.

"First off we don't know if she's a she yet, secondly no. The kid hates me I tell you." She threw her head back on the couch in pure exhaustion.

"I don't think she does. Maybe she's just tired like you. Come on let me show you your room." He suggested as she happily obliged. He led her up the steps to a corner room, the door was practically un-noticeable. He showed it to her and put her stuff away as she laid down.

So it all had begun. She prison sentence, at least that's what it was to her, would last for five months.

* * *

Okay guys next chapter we see Claudia have her little girl and the reason behind why Claudia hated Sonny so much in the first chapter. So review so that i can write more. Hoped you all liked it! R&R Please!!!!!!

Taylor


	4. Chapter 4

**April 2009**

Sonny helped the doctor through the secret way in that led straight to Claudia's room. It was her five month appointment today and Sonny couldn't wait to see his newest son or daughter. He was still planning out everything on how this child would come to be in his now free of the mob world. He had handed the business over to Jason, but still had millions in savings, enough to last for the rest of his and his new child's life.

"So Mr. Corinthos mind explaining why I'm performing a delivery here?" The doctor asked, he had not yet learned to be afraid of Sonny Corinthos.

"Um…My….Wife wants to have a home delivery and you seemed the most qualified for the job." Sonny stammered. It felt good to call Claudia his wife, even though it would never happen. The men opened the hidden door to a sleeping Claudia. Sonny went over to her and gently shook her shoulder. "Claudia." He whispered.

"Is the doctor here?" She stretched her tight muscles. Opening her eyes and looking solely at Sonny. She saw the doctor and answered her own question. They gave the doctor permission to begin. Claudia flinched as the cool gel was spread across her now very visible baby bump. Smiles stretched across their faces as the image of their child showed up on the monitor.

"Would you like to know if it's a boy or a girl?" The doctor asked them. Both nodded vigorously. "I see a very healthy little girl."

"You were right." Sonny whispered to Claudia, grabbing her hand. Claudia kept her glance at the monitor. As both Sonny and the doctor left the room, she sat up a little bit more in bed.

"I can't believe you little one. You were so amazing on that monitor and I can't meet you. I'm gonna try to be in your life as much as possible. But everything I do is so that you'll be safe."

XOXOXOXO

Sonny and Claudia laid in her bed together, which they did every night. Sonny's arms wrapped around both them and their daughter. Suddenly Claudia sat up and started breathing heavier. Fear jolted through Sonny's body as he sat up too.

"What's wrong? Is it the baby? Should I call the doctor?" He bombarded her with questions. She shook her head in a no though.

"I'm fine. Give me your hand." She commanded and he did. She placed it on her stomach and soon he felt a sharp jolt. The baby was kicking. "She's saying hi." Claudia smiled laying back down, melting into Sonny's arms.

XOXOXOXO

**August 5, 2009**

She was standing in her room, the room she had been confined to for so long. Five months. John had called almost every day, asking when she would be home or if she was even coming home. She had told him that Uncle Rudy had gotten sick and she needed to stay to keep business up to date. She hated to lie to him, but it was for the safety of her daughter and that's all that mattered. Soon she felt a sharp jab, not like the ones she had felt when the baby kicked, then she felt something trickle down her leg. The contraction hit her hard and fast making her crumble to the ground in pain.

She grabbed the phone off her bed from the ground. She dialed Sonny's number. "You better get up here and call the doctor, I'm in labor." She closed the phone, listening to his footsteps come charging up the steps. The door opened quickly.

"Are you okay? Lets get you on the hospital bed." He suggested helping her up. They had gotten a delivery bed a couple months ago for this exact moment. She clamped her eyes shut as another contraction hit. They were too close and both her and Sonny took note of that.

"Did you call the doctor?" She asked in a tortured whisper. Wincing, making her face distorted. He grabbed onto her hand.

"He should be here soon. Breathe Claudia you can do this." He said in his most soothing voice as the doctor came running in. He went immediately to Claudia's legs.

"Lets check your progress." He said as cheerful as possible. After learning who his patient was, he wanted everything to go perfectly. He knew what he saw could only be bad. "Okay we have a slight problem." Both Sonny and Claudia looked at him, fear in both pairs of eyes. "Your labor has progressed very quickly and the baby isn't far enough down, which can be dangerous for her." The doctor explained.

"What do we do?" Both expectant parents asked.

"Here's what I'm going to have you two do. Sonny I want you behind Claudia, pushing down on the top of stomach and Claudia I just want you to push." The doctor told them. Sonny maneuvered himself behind her and pushed when she did. Claudia was very fearful for the life of her child.

"Annnggghhhh." Claudia cried as she bore down, trying to save her little girl's life. "Ahhhhh!" She screamed, not being able to contain the pain any more.

"Good, keep doing what you're doing." The doctor told them as he guided Sonny's newest family member into the world. Sonny moved out from behind Claudia and went to hold his new daughter. Claudia threw her head back but soon looked up to see Sonny smiling. Their daughter was okay.

"Let me see my daughter." She begged, they had planned to not let her see the baby so Sonny tried not to pay attention to her. "Sonny I have to see her, please." She cried. He looked up at the once strong powerful woman, who was drenched in sweat, begging just to hold the one thing she truly loved. He placed the little girl into her mother's arms. A few tears fell from her eyes as Sonny wiped away the sweat on her face.

"She's beautiful, Claudia." He told her, gliding his hand down the baby's black head of hair. Claudia smiled and pushed one last time like the doctor told her to, then he left the room.

"You're so beautiful, yes you are. My beautiful baby girl, your daddy's gonna take care of you, but I love you so much. Always will I promise." Claudia cooed. She trailed her finger down the baby's face. She looked up at Sonny. "You take care of her, if anything ever happens to her, I swear to God….." She trailed off.

"I will. Now what do you think we should name her?" He asked her. "I want her to have your initials." Both parents sat in thought for awhile. "What about Cassie Zoey Corinthos."

"I love it." Claudia told him.

XOXOXOXO

**September 5, 2009**

Her little baby was a month old today and she hadn't seen her since she was a week old. When Cassie had turned two weeks old the newspaper announced that Sonny had adopted her. Claudia shook her head at this one, Cassie looked too much like him. It didn't matter though, it couldn't matter to Claudia. She had to break the connection she had to the two of them. Johnny had been happy to have her come home and in a way she was glad to be home. That changed drastically when she went to Kelly's that day.

There they were just sitting at one of the outside tables. She smiled, trying to be cheerful. "I read the paper, but I couldn't believe it until now." She told him, walking up to the table.

"Well, it's true. I've never been so happy in my life," He turned his attention to Cassie, "Yes, that's right. All thanks to you little girl." He cooed. Claudia rolled her eyes, trying to make it seem like she didn't care. "So what are you doing here?" He asked her.

"Meeting Johnny for lunch. Do you mind if I hold her?" Sonny picked up Cassie and placed her in Claudia's arms. She smiled. "Wow aren't you precious." Claudia cooed.

"The secret passageway is still open and always will be. At night you can come and see her at any time." Sonny said under his breath as Johnny walked up. Claudia handed the baby back to Sonny.

"You two playing nice?" Johnny asked laughing. Sonny and Claudia both nodded, smiling. "You ready to eat?" He asked Claudia.

"Sure. Bye Sonny." She walked away from the two. Wishing she could've stayed with her family.

XOXOXOXO

**December 25, 2013**

Claudia snuck to Sonny's house through the back. The road had become extremely familiar to her over the last four years. Every week she went to see her daughter in secret. It was the only way to do it, to keep them safe. Sonny's coffee business had taken off and he was doing just fine out of the business. Claudia opened the door to see Sonny and Cassie sitting by the fire.

"Momma!" Cassie screamed, jumping off of Sonny's lap and throwing herself into her mother's arms. Claudia dropped everything and held unto her daughter.

"Merry Christmas baby girl." Claudia whispered into the little girl's black hair. Claudia kissed her daughter's head before sitting down on the bed with her. "Do you wanna see what I got you for Christmas?"

"Later." Cassie answered, nuzzling her head into the crook of her mother's neck. Sonny came and sat next to Claudia, kissing her on the cheek. "Mommy why don't you live with me and daddy?" She asked innocently.

"Well baby, because Mommy's work is very, very dangerous and me and daddy want to keep you safe. So you and daddy know I'm your mommy, but no one else does." Claudia explained to the little girl.

"So I can't tell anyone?" The little girl asked sweetly. Almost sad that she couldn't tell anyone that Claudia was her mother.

"That's right baby, but we'll always know." She kissed her daughter's head.

XOXOXOXO

**March 3, 2014**

Claudia walked through the park, aimlessly. She pulled a flower off a bush and put it up to her nose. She smiled and threw it to the ground. She exhaled a deep breath and kept walking. Cassie and Sonny had been out of town for awhile so she had not seen her daughter for a few weeks. She heard shouting and saw a little girl running toward her. It was Cassie. The little girl jumped into her mother's arms.

"Mommy." She stated excitedly.

"Shh, remember our little secret." Claudia told her, putting her index finger to her lips. Cassie nodded. Then Claudia saw Sonny running toward them with Kate Howard not far behind. "Remember secret." Claudia whispered to Cassie putting her down. Sonny picked up his five year old.

"What were you thinking little one? Huh?" He asked her before looking at Claudia. "Thanks for catching her, I'm sure she would've run further if it hadn't been for you." Kate Howard just couldn't resist opening her big mouth.

"Sonny why are you being so calm, this tramp shouldn't be let anywhere near your daughter." Sonny clamped his eyes shut. He hated that Kate had just hurt Claudia like that.

"Kate how about you take Cassie over to get some ice cream, me and Claudia have some business to discuss." Kate rolled her eyes, then took Cassie's hand and took her over to the vendor.

"So you're back with your bed bunny?" Claudia sneered, pretty pissed that he was exposing their daughter to that woman.

"Look I can't discuss this with you right now. Come tonight around ten. Cassie will be asleep, but we need to talk." He said not meeting her eyes once. She wondered what this was all about, before nodding and walking away. She couldn't look back, even though all she wanted to do was take her daughter and run.

Dbdbdbdbdbd

Claudia snuck around the guards and every other obstacle until she was in the den. Sonny was sitting at a desk, obliviously waiting for her. She couldn't help but see remorse in his eyes and wondered what this was all about.

"You wanted to see me." He looked up to find her standing right there.

"Yeah, um I don't know how to tell this to you." He started still avoiding her eyes. "I don't want you around Cassie anymore." He blurted.

"Wha….What? Wh…..Why?! You said you'd never keep her from me." Her anger was flaring.

"But there are rumors of a mob war and right now we can't risk anything. I won't risk Cassie so that she can see her mother." He snapped a little viscously.

"This isn't about the mob at all, this is about Kate not wanting me around Cassie. She's poisoned your mind again, she's convinced you to keep me away. She hates me and now she's trying to get you to hate me to." Claudia was pissed.

"It's not like-"

"Don't tell it's not like that. It's exactly like that. You know what fine, I can't fight you on this because it poses a threat to my daughter. Good luck trying to explain to your five year old that you didn't want her mother around her."

Claudia stormed out of the house not caring who saw her.

* * *

Alright what did you guys think? Liked it or hated it tell me how ya feel. Next chapter we will go to the story's present day(2016) and find out if Cassie's okay. Please R&R!!!

Taylor


	5. Chapter 5

"_You're daughter is dieing, I'm so sorry Mr. Corinthos and Ms. Zacchara. The bullet was removed from her head, but it didn't matter. You both can go sit with her if you want." With that the doctor left. Claudia left the room with haste and Sonny followed her**.**_

She couldn't believe it. Her little girl was leaving and she hadn't seen her in years. Her anger was flaring at Kate and Sonny, but mostly Kate. She had poisoned Sonny's mind to hate her just like Kate did. She knew Sonny was closely behind her, probably afraid that she was going to do something to herself. To leave this earth just like her baby girl was going to do.

He wanted to cry, but men didn't cry. His little girl was dieing and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. For some reason Claudia was on her phone. Something about the warehouses and the upper level. Then it clicked she was going to get revenge. What was more to be expected of her? She was a grieving mother in the mob. They walked into the waiting room where Kate and Johnny were.

"How is she?" Johnny asked immediately, faster than Kate could.

"She's dieing, Johnny, my little girl is dieing." Claudia sobbed as her little brother gathered her in his arms. Sonny could tell she was breaking into two.

"How do we even know she's yours?" Kate asked, opening her big mouth. Claudia crossed the room and slapped her across the face.

"You shut your fucking mouth bitch! Don't you dare talk about me or my daughter while I'm in the room. And if I catch whiff that you took her to that warehouse. Yeah I knew you were there. They won't find your body. I swear to God." Claudia scowled at her. Kate, still with her hand on her face, turned to Sonny.

"I was there, Kate, and I don't want you disrespecting the mother of my child again." A flash of hurt crossed over Kate's face. She got up and handed him her engagement ring back.

"If you can't even side with me over that tramp I'm done with you. I'm sorry for your loss, though." Kate left the room to everyone's relief**.(a/n: this is the last you will be seeing of Kate Howard in this story) **Claudia stared at Sonny, trying to pick her next words carefully, but before she could Carly ran into the room along with Michael and Morgan.

"Sonny is she okay?!" Carly embraced him and Michael and Morgan followed suit. To form a four person group huge. Sonny was unable to tell them when they all released.

"Dad, is she going to be okay? Is Cassie going to be okay?" Morgan's voice cracked as he asked his father. Sonny was still unable to speak.

"Dad come on tell us. Is Cassie alright?" Michael asked. Claudia had, had enough. She was going to answer and then see her daughter.

"Cassie is dieing!" Claudia screamed, frustrated, annoyed she answered making her presence known.

"What is she doing here?" Carly asked in a disgusted tone. Michael and Morgan didn't really know what to think, they just wanted to know if their sister was okay. Claudia wanted to speak but Sonny opened his mouth first.

"Cassie wasn't adopted. She's mine and Claudia's daughter." Claudia swore if the situation hadn't been so serious she would be laughing at Carly's pissed off face.

"You lied to all of us Sonny. How could you do that?" Carly was astonished. Sometimes for her sake he would lie to her, but this lie wasn't for her.

"For my daughter I would do anything." Sonny answered. Claudia took Johnny's hand.

"Why don't we take you to meet your niece." Claudia pulled him along, but he didn't fight back. Carly quickly moved and pulled Claudia in for a hug. Everyone was astonished, but that didn't stop Claudia from hugging back.

"I'm so sorry Claudia, I can't imagine, truly. I'm sorry." Carly's eyes were watering as she let go and looked at her boys. Claudia nodded not knowing what to say before continuing out of the room.

Claudia stopped cold outside her daughter's hospital room. Her little girl had never looked so lifeless. All the color in her face was gone and she was hooked up to all these machines. It was truly painful for Claudia to look at.

"Would you mind giving us a moment?" She asked her baby brother. He shook his head as she headed into Cassie's room. Her tears raced down her face, she closed the door behind her. "Hi baby girl. I know it's been awhile and I'm so sorry I never said goodbye." She sat on the chair and grabbed unto her little girls hand.

Claudia motioned for Johnny to come in, which he did almost unwillingly. He hated seeing his sister like this.

"Hi Cassie, I'm your Uncle Johnny. I don't really know what to say except that I do already love you even though I don't really know you. Your mommy has told me some stories and you sound like an amazing little girl." Claudia burst into tears and Johnny went to comfort her.

Cassie was her little girl and she was dieing.

**XOXOXOXO**

Sonny, Carly, Michael, and Morgan sat in the waiting room not knowing what to do. Carly had suggested giving Claudia some time to say goodbye since she hadn't seen her daughter in awhile. Sonny kept his head in his hands trying not to show the few tears that were slipping from his eyes. They were also sharing memories of Cassie.

"Remember her first Christmas, how she opened everybody's presents and Morgan you got mad but then she made that face and you melted." Michael shared.

"I remember that and then when we took her to the petting zoo and she went crazy with all the animals. What about you dad?" Morgan asked causing Sonny to raise his head.

"The best memory of Cassie I have is the day I had to work really late, she could've only been four, and when I came home she was waiting and jumped right into my arms." He smiled at the memory.

"She always was a daddy's little girl." Carly added.

_He always called her daddy's little girl_

_She was four years old_

_Waiting by the door to run into his arms_

_Each time that he came home_

Then the doctor walked in and signaled for Sonny to come to him.

"We thought you might like to have this." The doctor placed a star necklace in Sonny's hand. "I truly am so sorry for this terrible event." The doctor left without another word. He didn't know what else to say. Carly, Michael, and Morgan walked up behind him.

"What is it dad?" Michael asked.

"For Cassie's fourth Christmas Claudia gave this to her. It's a star necklace. She's worn it everyday since, never once taken it off." Sonny's voice cracked, he couldn't stand it anymore.

"Sonny why don't you go to her room. Me and the boys won't leave unless you want us to." Carly told him. She still remembered her ex-husband's tendencies. His voice got like that only when he was extremely upset.

"You all should go home and get some rest." Carly started to pull the boys out of the room. They hugged their father and left. He let his tears go as his finger traced the outline of the star. He made his way to his little girl's room. Johnny was standing outside.

"Has Claudia been in there the whole time?" He was almost surprised.

"Why do you sound surprised. You kept Claudia away from her daughter for three years and now she's dieing. Do you think she'd be standing out here, hitting on doctors or something." Johnny scoffed. What he said hurt, but Sonny knew it was completely true.

"Look I just want to see my daughter." He put his hands up defensively as he opened the door. Claudia didn't look up from her daughter's face. "Claudia." He called. She looked at him with disgust.

"You can't give me five minutes alone with her. Look I wanna have this fight with you right now, but I can't. So I'm sure you wanna talk to her and I'm gonna let you." She kissed Cassie's forehead and went to leave. Sonny grabbed her hand and put the necklace in it.

"I thought you might want this." Claudia already knew what it was without looking. A few more tears slipped through her glass eyes.

"Thank you." She ran from the room.

Sonny sat on the chair next to the bed. He pushed a loose piece of hair from his daughter's face. He remembered all the little things about his daughter. Her love of those worn out red sneakers, how smiley she always was, and the time she ate her first oreo. That made him smile.

"Well little girl I didn't expect this to happen so soon. I remember when you were a little girl and you skinned your knee up, you cried like a baby. But I wiped those tears away and you seemed okay. Then you had that phase where you had all those bad dreams. I even thought I was gonna have to bring your mom in for that one, you would scream, but somehow when I came in it got better. I love you so much angel." He grabbed her hand and cried a little.

_When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears_

_When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears _

_And I held your hand through all of these years _

He heard Claudia come in, but he didn't move. He couldn't leave her now. They had already taken out the breathing machine, it was only a matter of time before she left them all. To his surprise she pulled up a chair on the other side of the bed and grabbed Cassie's other hand.

"You know you got all that time with her. And I just had to settle with time form time. I know that was our plan, but from that plan this wasn't supposed to happen." She explained tearfully.

"I know and Claudia I'm sorry if I had seen the gun I would've protected her, but I didn't. All you need to know is that she was the best little girl, she was so happy." He told her.

"You know I promised to always protect her, I guess my promises mean nothing at all." She stated.

"They do, this was not in your control. No one knew she was yours. This was random."

"I don't know, but I promise I'll find out."

They were silent for awhile just looking at Cassie. For a seven year old she had gone through so much. Having to keep her mother a secret to her mom disappearing. Claudia shook her head at all these thoughts, they hurt her too much.

"Cassie Zoey Corinthos I love you so much and will always love you." Claudia kissed Cassie's hand.

"Momma?" Both parents looked up at their child's open eyes.

* * *

Dun..Dun…Dun. Did I catch any of you off guard with her waking up? Are you glad Kate's gone? Did you like it with Carly, Michael, and Morgan involved? Cassie will now become a major character and believe me she will have some bone to pick with both parents. So **REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!**

Taylor


	6. Chapter 6

"Momma?" Both parents looked up at their child's open eyes.

Sonny ran to the door and yelled for a doctor as Claudia kissed her cheek multiple times. She was awake and no one was going to keep her away from her daughter again. Cassie looked confused at best, and Claudia could've sworn she saw a little anger. The doctors rushed inside and ordered both parents out. Johnny stood outside with a look of bewilderment on his face.

"She's…….awake?" He questioned. Claudia hugged him tightly and nodded.

"My baby girl is awake." Claudia's grin was from ear to ear as she told him. All three adults turned back to the door as the doctors walked out.

"We don't know how it happened, but Cassie is awake and she should make a full recovery. Two people may go in at a time." They turned and left as Sonny and Claudia rushed into the room. Both took a seat on each side of the bed.

"Dad, I need you to leave." She told him right off the bat. Sonny saw a side of her he hoped she would never have, her mother's side.

"Cassie you just woke up, I'm not going anywhere." He backfired.

"I need to talk to mom alone, which means you can't be there." Claudia looked at Sonny and nodded. "Dad, it's not like she's gonna take me and run. If you haven't noticed I just woke up. Just go." Cassie pushed. Sonny nodded and kissed her forehead before leaving.

"How do you feel?" Claudia asked her after Sonny closed the door behind him.

"This isn't your interrogation, mom. I'm the one that's gonna ask the questions. Starting with: Why did you leave?" Claudia's heart dropped, she knew she deserved this, but now when Cassie had just gotten back to them.

"Well remember when your dad had just gotten back with Kate?" Cassie nodded. "Well both of them thought it was better if I didn't see you which meant I wasn't going to be able to see you."

"You could've fought for me. You didn't even say goodbye. Do you know how confused I was? You just disappeared, I thought you had become a magician or something." Claudia wiped at the few tears that formed in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry baby. Look if your father would've let me say goodbye I would've and I couldn't fight for you. Did I want to? Yes, of course, but revealing who you were put you in the line of fire and the whole plan was to keep you out of it. Cassie, I had to keep you safe." Claudia tried to grab her hand, but Cassie pulled it out of her grasp. Claudia looked as if she had been slapped in the face.

"I'm sure you could've kept me safe if you wanted to, but you didn't want to fight for me. I wasn't worth it, mom, and I get that now. At four I guess I just didn't grasp that. Mom I've missed you, but I'm not going to try to fix our relationship when it's broken beyond repair."

"Cassie, please don't-"

"Just get out mom and send daddy in." Claudia stood up and touched her arm.

"I'm not going to give up on you. I love you Cassie, no matter what you say or do. I may not have fought for you when you wanted me to, but I will now." Claudia kissed her forehead and left.

"Bye, mommy." Cassie whispered.

****************

Sonny and Johnny watched her carefully as she exited her daughter's room. Tears rolled down her cheeks. Both men looked at her confused. She looked up and gave a reassuring smile, then checked her phone for the time. Johnny grabbed her arm and forced her to look at him, before he could say anything she spoke.

"Sonny she wants you in there." He nodded and slipped by her into his daughter's room. Claudia walked over to the chairs on the other side of the hallway and buried her head in her hands. Johnny knew something was off, he went and sat next to her.

"What happened? Your daughter is awake, she's alive and you're sitting here about to sob your eyes off." He nearly yelled.

"She doesn't want to be with me, she thinks I could've fought for her when she was little. That I could've been with her, that I shouldn't have disappeared. But Sonny wasn't going to let me. What was I supposed to do?!"

"We're gonna get through this Claudee, protect her from dad when he finds out. Everything is going to be okay." John explained to her.

She wanted to believe him, but when she looked into the window and saw Cassie she knew it wasn't going to be okay.

****************

He walked slowly into her room. She was awake, and she was okay. He went and sat next to her. She looked up at her dad and smiled.

"Hey, Cassie. How ya feeling?" He asked her. She shook her head.

"I have a headache, but what's to be expected." She laughed. "That's not why you're in here, though."

"You sound like me on one of my business calls. What's wrong?" He examined her face.

"Why is this the first time I've seen my mom in three years?" He avoided her glance.

"Kate thought it would be better-"

"Don't give me any of the Kate thought crap, cause Kate didn't even know that mom was my mom. The truth dad, that's all I want, the truth."

"Your mom is in the mafia, you know that. Well a while ago Michael was almost shot when I was still in the mob. Your mom knew this and we both agreed before you were born that we would keep you secret. She would visit you at night, but we knew you couldn't be revealed as a Zacchara, too. When you were four, there were rumors of a mob war. I knew people would be following your mom and you were my priority, I had to keep you safe. I told her that she wasn't allowed to see you anymore."

"So you were the one that made mom disappear into thin air. How could you daddy?! I needed her and I missed her. How could you do this to me?! How!" She screamed, tears streaking her face. Claudia came running in the room. "Momma!" Cassie's arms shot out as Claudia went to hold her.

"Calm down baby. What do you need?"

"Daddy to leave." Cassie answered burrowing her face into her mother's neck. Claudia shot Sonny a look.

"Sonny out now." Sonny obliged, unhappily, and left the room. Cassie started to calm down and soon enough was asleep. Claudia sat next to her for a few minutes to make sure she was asleep and then went outside the room to Sonny and Johnny. "What the hell did you do to her? It's one o'clock in the morning, when she needs to be sleeping and you're upsetting her."

"I was just answering the questions she was asking, she woke up with quite an attitude. I don't know what happened." He said looking into the room.

"Didn't the doctor say she might have an attitude change. Look we need to try to contain this before daddy finds out** (A/N: Anthony never went to prison in this story).** Because when he finds out, all hell is going to break out." Claudia looked at Sonny and Johnny hoping they would back her up.

"All the news crews know is that my daughter was shot, that's it. Our plan can still work, Claudia." She shook her head.

"No way, not if you're going to keep me from her. You just saw her, she can't handle that again." Sonny looked at Johnny who was nodding, giving his support to his sister.

"Fine, I won't keep her from either of you, but your father and the guards stay away from her." All three nodded in agreement.

**Nine hours later…….10:00 am.**

Johnny went down to the cafeteria, leaving Sonny and Claudia sleeping in the chairs outside of Cassie's room. He ordered a coffee and a paper, then sat at a table. He opened up the paper, but got no further than the front page. He was absolutely horrified. It read:

**Corinthos' Adopted Daughter: Shot, Not Adopted, and Mother Revealed.**

_Cassie Corinthos, the 'adopted' daughter of former mob boss, Sonny Corinthos was shot in the head last night, but is expected to make a full recovery. What is more horrifying than the fact that a seven year old was shot is that_ _her father lied about her. She was not adopted, in fact she is the daughter of Sonny Corinthos and the notorious mob princess Claudia Zacchara. They supposedly had relations in 2008 into early 2009 an unknown source tells us. Questions have arose from__this most recent discovery. The biggest one: Why keep the child's paternity a secret?_

He became angry very quickly, Kate Howard must've done this. No one else close to Sonny would've told the press. His father got this paper everyday, too. He took off to his niece's room. Claudia and Sonny were still asleep, Johnny shook his sister awake.

"What the hell John? I wanna sleep." She complained, he shoved the paper into her hands. Her eyes got wider as she read further down, at the end she shook her head. "No, John, no." She rolled the paper up and smacked Sonny hard on the arm. He woke up and shot her a glare.

"What the hell-" She gave him the paper.

"Everything's shot to hell, everyone who reads the paper will know that she is our daughter." Claudia told him as he read the article.

"It'll be okay." He told them. Both siblings met each other's gaze before shaking their heads.

* * *

"You are so lucky that his kid didn't die." The woman told him.

"You think I don't know that, look I didn't know the gunman was incompetent." The man told her.

"Claudia Zacchara is going to be out for blood."

"No one suspects me for anything, besides this was my revenge. It can all be over."

"You really think either parent is going to let this go?" The woman asked before walking out of the room.

* * *

Both were still looking at Sonny funny when her cell phone went off. She grabbed it from her back pocket.

"Hello." Claudia answered.

"_My darling daughter, why didn't you tell me I had a grandchild." _She looked with fear at Sonny.

* * *

Alright what did you guys think? Again, I am so sorry for not updating in forever. Expect a lot of updates over Christmas break. PLEASE R&R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Let me remind you guys that this is a Claudia Zacchara story not a ClauSon story. Read and enjoy:**

"_My darling daughter, why didn't you tell me I had a grandchild?"_ She looked at Sonny with fear. Her throat felt as if it was about to close, she felt as if she couldn't breathe. Everything she did to protect Cassie meant nothing, because now he knew.

"It was none of your damn business, and still isn't. Stay away from my daughter." She slammed the phone off, they only had a few minutes. Her body shook in fear and it wouldn't stop as she looked into Cassie's room. She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Sonny's hand.

"Your father?" She nodded, as she pulled away from his grasp. His eyes clamped shut even though he knew he deserved the hate she showed him. "How long do we have?" She couldn't speak, fear was consuming her, making her mute.

"Not long. What are you guys gonna do?" Johnny asked as he watched his sister stand by his niece's window. He saw her visibly shaking and was worried about her. He saw a new light come to her eyes.

"I'm going to go sit with my daughter and let you two deal with this." She stopped as she touched the door handle. "And, Sonny, I'm going to make it quite clear to my father that I'm leaving the business." Both men watched as she disappeared into the room.

"You know I've always heard people say 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned', but never believed it until now. What did you ever do to her?"

"Your saint of a sister didn't tell you?" Johnny shook his head. "When I got back with Kate, I decided that I, she, and Cassie would be a family. So I told Claudia that she wasn't welcome to see her daughter." Sonny explained.

"You bastard." Johnny said, wanting so bad to punch him in the face. "How could you do that to her. Cassie is her daughter too."

"I know, but you know your father knowing about her is one of the things we so desperately were trying to avoid. That's why she kept it from you, too. No one was supposed to think she was Claudia's."

"Wait, when she went to Uncle Rudy's, she wasn't really there." Sonny nodded. "She was at your place, having Cassie."

"Now you know everything, just help us protect Cassie."

"Look I'd help anyways since she's my niece. Call Alexis, while I try to stall." Johnny commanded, storming off to the lower level of the building. Sonny pulled his phone out to call Alexis to get a restraining order.

**Cassie's room:**

Claudia walked into the room, watching as Cassie's head shot up at the sound of someone walking in the room. Claudia smiled lightly at her, and sat down next to her. Cassie reached out and hugged her mother. Claudia felt the tears come, but held them back. Finally she had her daughter back. When they pulled away, Cassie reached at her neck, a shocked look appeared on her face.

"Where's my necklace mommy?" Claudia dug her hand in her pocket and pulled it out. She put it back around her daughter's neck. "Thank you." Claudia smiled.

"You are very welcome, angel. Cassie, I need you to know that when you get out of here, things are going to be different. You're going to have guards and people are going to see you different, but you need to know that you're still going to be the most important thing to me." Claudia explained, moving a piece of hair out of Cassie's face.

"You won't disappear again, will you?" The child asked fearful that her mother would turn and walk away once again.

"No way. Actually the business that was so dangerous for you to be around is no longer a problem, because I'm not doing that anymore. So, I'm going to be around you a lot more."

"Are you going to move in with daddy and me?" Claudia was not expecting that question, Cassie knew that her parents were not together.

"No, baby. Do any of your friends have parents that are divorced?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"You know how your friends spend one week with their mommy and the other with their daddy?" Cassie nodded her head. "Well that's what you're going to do with me and daddy. Is that okay?"

Cassie sat there in silence, contemplating the idea. Her whole purpose was to get her parents back together, but her mother didn't seem to want to go along with that. Finally Cassie just nodded her head.

"Yes, that's fine with me. As long as you and daddy are happy." The child smiled her biggest smile. Knowing that they were only happy when they were together.

* * *

**Front doors of the hospital:**

Johnny saw all the goons coming and knew this wasn't good, his father was going to try and pull something. He felt it. One rule that applied to Anthony Zacchara was to never, ever trust him. Johnny sent Sonny a text telling him there wasn't much time. Johnny was good at distracting his father, except when he was determined to get what was his. A fight was brewing as Johnny saw Anthony wheel in.

"Dad." He addressed as formal as possible.

"Son, how nice to see you. How's my grand-daughter doing? It's just like your sister for trying to pull this off."

"Claudia was trying to protect her from the likes of you. She didn't want her daughter growing up around you and still doesn't. Which means you are not going to see Cassie." Johnny told him in a strong voice, hoping to see Alexis walk through the door at any time now.

"Son, now is not the correct time to be saying this. That girl is the most powerful heir possible. She has Corinthos and Zacchara blood. There's a leader in there that this town has never seen and I plan to release it." Anthony tried to wheel past Johnny but he grabbed the arm of the chair.

"Dad, I said no."

"But, Johnny, I said yes."

* * *

Alexis couldn't get the restraining order, because the court ruled Anthony Zacchara as a safe person. Sonny couldn't believe it, Anthony was anything but safe and he had a chance of getting to his daughter. He and Claudia had to get downstairs and stop Anthony before he could come up and permanently ruin Cassie. He walked over to the door and opened it.

"Hey Cassie. Claudia there's a problem downstairs that we need to deal with together." Cassie waved at her father, making him smile. He watched as Claudia kissed her daughter goodbye and followed Sonny out into the corridor.

"My father, right?"

"Yeah, Johnny's fending him off, but I can't get a restraining order, because the courts declared him safe to be around." He took note of tears forming in he eyes. "You okay?" She shook her head at his concern, then she wiped the tears away.

"Yeah, it's just he always seems to mess up my life. I mean if it weren't for him me, you, and Cassie would be a big family, but instead look at us."

"I know, but if we can just stop him. It'll be okay." Claudia nodded.

"Let's go."

They took the elevator, horrified at the scene that the doors opened up to. Johnny was screaming and holding Anthony's chair back, while Anthony was screaming back at him. There were a few nurses trying to help the situation not realizing how badly they were hurting it.

"Everyone just stop!" Claudia yelled. No sleep for a few days had made her very moody. Everyone stopped and looked up at her. "Now dad, you are not seeing my kid. You can leave now." He got his evil grin on and started to speak to her only.

"No, you can go now." She was confused until Anthony grabbed his gun and pointed it at her.

* * *

Cassie sat in her room all alone, bored out of her mind. She decided to grab the wheel chair and go downstairs to see what Claudia and Sonny were doing. What was this problem that her dad had spoken about? She had always been curious and she wanted to know. She wheeled herself to an elevator where she pressed the first floor button and felt as the elevator came to a stop. She gasped to the scene that was before her. Her mom had a gun pointed at her and the rest of the people were trying to stop the old man with the gun.

"Anthony you don't want to do this." Sonny told him, inching closer and closer to Claudia.

"I do, this girl has been a nuisance to me since the beginning, and it's about time I got rid of her." Cassie wondered how a person could say that about her mom.

"Dad, don't do it." Johnny told him. Cassie realized she hadn't been noticed as she inched closer to the scene.

It all happened so fast, the sound of the gun made Cassie jump, she watched as her dad jumped in front of her mom to protect her. Sonny was lying on the ground with a hole in his chest as people held Anthony back.

"DADDY!" Cassie screamed, trying to wheel herself closer to her parents.

"Johnny get her out of here." Claudia commanded. Johnny ran up to the girl, picked her up out of the chair and ran down the hall to another room, where she cried profusely on her uncle's shoulder.

**********

"Sonny don't you dare die on me." Claudia whispered. She was on her hands and knees, wiping the sweat beads off of Sonny's forehead. She kissed his cheek, trying to get a response out of him. She was totally unaware that the nurses were paging doctors left and right. Or that Anthony had been carted out of the building.

"Claudia." He croaked out. She grabbed his hand.

"I'm here, hold on, please." She begged, he was the only one she would ever do that to.

"I……can…'t.….I will always…..love…..you." His ragged breaths scared her.

"No Sonny, don't please." The breaths stopped. "No, Sonny!" She screamed, trying to do CPR. Robin rounded the corned and ran down to the level Claudia was on.

"Move!" Claudia moved and watched as Robin tried to give him CPR as well. It didn't work and Claudia knew he was gone. Robin got up and looked Claudia in the eye.

"I'm sorry, the bullet it hit a internal organ. He'll be moved to the morgue, but you can have a few minutes with him there." Claudia nodded, speechless. She followed the men that carried Sonny's body to the morgue. They left her to be alone with Sonny. She pulled the sheet off his face.

"You gave me Cassie and for that I will always be grateful to you. Sonny, I loved you so much and I always thought you'd be there. I was so wrong." She cried. She bent down and kissed his lips, they were becoming cold to the touch. She cried over him for a little bit longer before leaving the morgue. She realized she had to call Carly. After it rang for a few times, Carly picked up her phone.

"_Hello."_

"Carly, it's Claudia-"

"_Did something happen to Cassie? Is she alright? Sonny told me she woke up. Did she fall back into the coma?"_

"No, Carly, Cassie's fine. It's Sonny."

"_What's wrong with Sonny?"_

"My father shot him and he's dead." Claudia sobbed. "Look I need you to get everything ready for a funeral. I would do it, but Cassie saw it happen and I have to check on her. Please Carly just do this for me."

"_You got. Tell Cassie her brothers love her."_

"I will." With that Claudia hung up and went to find her daughter.

*********

"Mommy, is daddy okay?" Those were the first words Claudia heard when she walked into the room that held her daughter and brother. Johnny held his niece tighter seeing the tears well up in his sister's eyes.

"No, baby he isn't. The wound was too much and he stopped breathing. He's dead, baby, I'm so sorry."

Cassie ran into her mother's arms. She felt as if she was going to collapse and Claudia felt the same way. When both of them fell asleep in the chair, Johnny put a blanket over them and told the nurses not to disturb.


	8. Chapter 8

**Two weeks later.**

Claudia slipped on her black, long dress; wiping away a few tears away from her face. She couldn't believe Sonny had left the house to her, she guessed it was logical since this had always been Cassie's home. She walked down the hallway to her daughter's room. She was sitting on the bed looking at a picture of her and Sonny. Claudia went over and sat down next to her, wrapping Cassie in a hug.

"How are you doing baby girl?" Cassie sniffled a little, before pulling her hair back into a ponytail. She was so happy that the bandages had been taken off when she was released from the hospital two days ago.

"Daddy's dead, how do you expect me to feel?" Cassie asked tearfully.

"I don't expect you to take it well, but you need to know that your daddy loved you so much and he would've done anything for you. He wanted to give you an amazing life, with or without him in it."

"Can we just go and get this over with? I'm sick of all the stupid new stations showing this as news. People die everyday, so why can't they just leave us alone?!" Cassie broke, crying hysterically for the third time that morning. Claudia didn't know what else to say to her little girl.

"Because no matter whether people liked your dad or hated him they were always thinking about him. Baby remember he's always with you." Claudia told her grabbing the moon necklace Sonny had purchased his daughter for her eighth birthday. Cassie nodded.

"We're going to be late, momma. Let's go." Cassie said pulling her mother down the stairs and into the car.

**********

Carly, Jax, Michael, and Morgan were already there when Cassie and Claudia got there. Jax had never really tolerated Sonny in life, but he seemed much more tolerable now that Sonny was dead. Michael walked over to Claudia and Cassie, hugging Claudia, then picking Cassie up.

"Hello, my amazing little sister." He said, kissing her temple.

"Hi Michael." Cassie said, in a whisper. The church started to overflow with people, but when Cassie saw cameras she flipped. "Momma, get the cameras out!" Cassie wanted this to be private and it couldn't be broadcasted. Claudia immediately went over and got the TV people to skedaddle, in the nicest way possible. Michael and Morgan were both smiling as she made her way back to them.

"What?"

"You handled that the same way dad would've. You really were a match made in heaven." Morgan told her, making her want to cry. She had loved Sonny the whole time and never admitted it. The priest came in and the service started.

*********

"Now if anyone would like to come up and say a few words about Sonny, they are more than welcome." The priest told them. Everyone was hesitant, and the silence was awkward. Everyone had something to say, they just didn't want to go first. Then everyone saw a little girl walk up to the microphone. It was Cassie.

"Daddy was a good man, no matter what anyone said. He loved me and my siblings more than his own life and would've done anything for us. People misunderstand daddy because he was in the mob, but he did what he could to keep his family safe. If I could say one more thing to him I would tell him how much I love him." She tearfully walked off the stage and into her mother's embrace.

Everyone except for Claudia went up and said something about him. The priest stood and waited until Claudia realized she had to go up and say something. So finally she got up and walked behind the podium.

"I don't know what I can say about Sonny without bursting into tears. He saved my life, and lost his in the process. He gave me my daughter and for that I will be eternally grateful for. But I realized too late how much I cared for him and he'll never know. So Sonny if you're listening up there I just want to tell you that _I love you_."

* * *

**Eleven years later(Cassie's high school graduation):**

She stood on the stage and felt the wind blow through her hair as her class's valedictorian spoke about her class. She felt him here, that was one thing she was certain. Her dad was here with her and her mother. Her mom and Nik were sitting in the front row. She still didn't like Nik much, she knew now that her mom wasn't trying to replace her dad, though. Nik, had helped her through a lot of rough nights and as a step-dad he wasn't bad. A jolt shook her from her thoughts, Josslyn was telling her to get up and throw her cap up, which she did in great pride. The class filtered off the stage as the breeze went off again. She finally caught up with her mom, who hugged her.

"He would be so proud of you, you know that." Cassie grabbed onto her moon necklace.

"Yeah, I know he is. He'll be even happier when I go to college." She told her mother matter of factly. Then Nik walked up.

"Congratulations, Cassie." He gave her a weak hug.

"Thank you. Look mom, we're all going out to celebrate. So don't wait up….?"

"You don't know me very well if you expect me not to wait up. But go and have fun. You feel like shopping tomorrow?" Cassie kissed her mom's cheek.

"Umm, I don't know, I'll have to get back to you on that one. Love you see you later."

* * *

Three down, two to go!! This wasn't the exact ending I wasn't planning for this story, but beggars can't be choosers. As I have said in my other updates, once I get done all my current stories I will start on "I Can't Be There" so be expecting more updates. Thanks guys for R&Ring!!!


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